Debian MIPS Port

MIPS is one of the first RISC CPU architectures invented around 1985. It was a radical design which removed many features deemed unnecessary, since the goal was to get the best possible performance from a limited transistor count. Back then, MIPS were powerful general purpose CPUs, and very successful in that role, until they lost ground to systems based on cheap mass-produced Intel-compatible CPUs. Later on, the simple and elegant design allowed to create a wide range of low power CPUs targeted for embedded applications.

Today, MIPS is a popular architecture for embedded systems, with a strong presence in various networked devices, and spanning a range from 32-bit at 100 MHz to 64-bit at 1.2 Ghz. The current top-end is arguably the SC5832 made by SiCortex, a compact supercomputer with 5832 CPU cores dissipating 600 mW each.

The Debian 'mips' and 'mipsel' ports support a range of older workstations and servers as well as a few newer embedded devices.

The global state of the development branch is tracked at mipsLennyReleaseRecertification.

A howto for installing a SGI Indy over network is available at NetworkBootingIndy.